Working at her Craft
by RascalChao
Summary: Peacock has several ways to spend her free time. One of them sounds very unlikely…


It's roughly two o'clock in the afternoon. The sound of metal clicking rapidly radiates from behind Peacock's door. Several people stopped by the door, curious at the noise. Unfortunately, her door would always be found to be locked. That would bring the question; what was she doing in there? One person did, and it was who delivered her two sizable packages that had came in that morning. Of course, several people asked. He'd respond with a gentle chuckle each time.

"She ain't doin' much," Big Band told Leduc, "Just findin' a way to keep Lab 8 funded. Plus, it's one of her more wholesome activities to do when she's bored."

This answer didn't satisfy Leduc. Which was why he found himself returning to Peacock's door, hesitating in front of it.

"Maybe I should knock?" He shook his head. "Nah, she'd yell at me. What's she doing that she'd lock her door for, anyway?"

Tapping his foot, he sighs and presses his ear to the door. This made the clicking sound louder, and he could make out snatches of Peacock's voice. What he heard sounded like nonsense.

"... she's got a bigger head for sure, doesn't she? Avery, hand me more of the goods. Tommy, add around three to four inches. Yeesh, workin' like a maniac doesn't suit me. Can someone pass me a drink?"

"Boss?"

"Not now, Andy. Y'can go find a TV somewhere else, I'm concentratin'."

"Not that! Though there's gonna be a show later. Someone's… uh."

Andy's voice becomes a whisper, so Leduc couldn't make out the words. The clicking stops. Then from under the door, Peacock's head comes out. She looks somewhat annoyed, but the oddest fact was that her hat was off. Usually the thing never left her head.

"Need somethin', pal?"

Blinking a few times, Leduc shakes his head. "N-not really. I was wondering what you were doing, really."

Frowning, she makes a dissatisfied noise. "Look, buddy. What I'm doin' in 'ere is my business, and business is important. Unless you can do me a solid and tell Woodwind I'm low on materials, scram."

With that, her head disappeared back under the door with an audible 'pop'. The clicking then shortly resumes, a bit slower than before. Standing for a bit, he decides that he might as well tell 'Woodwind' about what Peacock needed.

Leduc walks back down the hall that led to the main area of the lab. He's mulling over what both Peacock and Big Band said, trying to make connections.

"Jus' findin' a way to keep Lab 8 funded."

Weren't there several ways that Lab 8 held itself up? Big Band could have been joking, he was known to do that.

"What I'm doin' in 'ere is my business, and business is important."

Peacock was never really serious about anything, save for watching every episode she could of that Annie show.

"So Leduc, find anything about what Peacock was doing?"

Hive's voice snaps him out of his thoughts. He stumbles a bit over his words before starting.

"Not much. All I know is that she's making things and she's running low on whatever materials she's using. I have to go tell Big Band that she needs more."

With a disappointed sigh, Hive shrugs. "I wonder what she could possibly be making. Think it's bombs? Maybe cigars? Maybe even-"

"Hats, maybe."

Ileum appeared seemingly from behind Hive, startling her and making Leduc jump. She chuckled a little, then walked back.

"Yeesh," Hive said as she started to walk after her, "Could swear she's started taking notes from Peacock."

That made Leduc laugh a bit. "I wouldn't be surprised. She seems to be teaching Big Band how to do that too."

The noise of several people talking to each other and the 'whir' of machines came into focus as Leduc entered the center of activity in Lab 8. The giant cyborg in question sat at the very back of the room. One couldn't miss him from a mile away. Big Band raised his eyebrows as Leduc drew close, obviously aware of where he had been.

"Don't tell me you went snoopin' around in Peacock's room."

He nervously shook his head. "No sir… well, not _in_ her room, heh. But!" He held up a finger before Big Band could start. "She did tell me that she was low on materials."

This seems to pacify him. "Hm. She's workin' faster than I expected. Well, I might as well indulge you on what she's doin'." With that, Big Band quickly hoisted Leduc onto his shoulder and walked out of the room.

They went past Peacock's room, which confused Leduc at first. Only when they reached the stairs that led to the storage room did he understand what they were doing. Big Band easily flew down the multiple flights, landing with a heavy 'thud' at the bottom.

The storage room for Lab 8 was massive; all kinds of things from spare parts to non-perishable foods were stashed down there. The giant cyborg set him down and made his way over to two crates near the front. He turned to Leduc and beckoned him over.

"If Peacock asks, I never _said_ anything about what she was doin'. I want you to take a look on the labels of these crates."

So Leduc did; he crouched down as Big Band rotated the crates so the labels faced him. One stated 'Ribbons'. The other read 'Fake Flowers'.

"She's…" Despite trying to hold himself back, Leduc snickered a little. "She's making… _flower crowns_?"

This earned him a gentle smack on the back of the head. "Now don't laugh about it. It's one of the things she takes pride in that I support." With a grunt, he picked up the crates so that the labels were hidden by his sides. "Sayin' stuff like that is why she doesn't like to do it as often or tell people about it."

A small bit of guilt hit Leduc. "Sorry. Didn't know." He then climbed up Big Band's back and sat on his shoulder.

"All I'm sayin' is to watch what you say, Leduc. Some things are a bit more sensitive than others. Same goes for people." Big Band started walking back to the stairs, then jumped and started to fly. Notes were produced from the saxophone on his back the entire way as they rocketed over the ground.

They started to slow down, and fully came to a stop in front of Peacock's door. Big Band landed pretty heavily, causing the clicking behind the door to stop and eliciting a "Baloney!" from her.

"Least she didn't say somethin' less wholesome. I think she's learnin' from me." The need to knock was not necessary. Peacock cracked open the door, looking severely annoyed.

"Look, I know yer jus' around four hundred pounds, Woodwind, but could ya learn a bit more finesse in yer landin' ability?" She then glares at Leduc. "Why's he here? Ya didn't tell him, did you?"

Big Band shook his head. "No I didn't. He read the crates himself, I said nothin'."

This made Peacock frown widely, but it was the kind of frown that said that he had outsmarted her. "Fine. Let him in, I guess. Careful bringin' the supplies in, I don't wanna have t' clean it up if ya break them."

The door opened fully, Leduc hopping off of Big Band's shoulder as he quickly made his way inside. Once the two of them were in, the door closed behind them and locked itself.

To say Peacock was hard at work in her room was an understatement. Just about every surface in the room was covered in flower crowns. All of them were just about the most colorful things Leduc had ever seen. Even her cronies were wearing the crowns.

Big Band set the crates down near Peacock, then walked to a corner of the room not occupied by the flowers and sat down against the wall. Leduc, making sure not to step on anything, followed after Big Band and sat down next to him.

"Peacock, this is…" Leduc's praise was interrupted by a white and yellow flower crown flying over and landing perfectly on his head. Big Band, without a word, took off his hat. Soon, a yellow, white, and black crown floated over and landed on his head.

"Yep. Spectacular? Amazing? Unexpected?" Tommy handed her some ribbon and Avery picked out flowers and gave them to her. Then, Leduc noticed something just as Peacock went back to work. Her gloves were off, revealing her skeletal, robotic hands. They seemed to have a life of their own as the flew over the ribbon and flowers; it took her just about five seconds to make a single flower crown.

"She's a prodigy with this stuff," Big Band explained, "Her gloves normally get in the way, but without 'em, it's like she's workin' double time."

"'The gloves have come off,' t' put it simply. Everyone in Lab 8 is gettin' one. It was supposed t' be a surprise, but Woodwind 'ere is not one fer surprises."

Peacock continues to crank out the flower crowns at an alarming speed, Andy standing nearby with a notepad and a pencil.

"Stanley… Hatto… Boss… That's everyone!"

Peacock flopped onto the floor, releasing a sigh. Her robotic fingers were twitching, probably from exhaustion. "Finally! Everyone now has their own crown. I could use a freakin' John Daniels."

Leduc's brow furrowed. "John Daniels? Peacock, you're barely fourteen."

"Hey," she retorted, pointing a twitching finger at him, "Don't tell me what I can't drink. I deserve one after all this work." Her hand then fell, fingers still twitching.

With a chuckle, Big Band got back up and started to leave. "I'll get you hot cocoa or somethin'. Wanna wait 'till your hands are better before we hand these out?"

Peacock nods, then mumbles something about taking a nap. Leduc follows after him as he opens the door and closes it behind Leduc.

"Let's give her a moment. She's gonna be real busy soon."

"What about this?" Leduc inquires, pointing to his flower crown. "Do we just keep these on our heads?"

Nodding, Big Band starts to walk back towards the main area. "Might as well. Up for some hot cocoa?"


End file.
